EMERGENCY APPEAL

Ebola Prevention, Community Protection & Rapid Awareness Campaign (Goma &  Idjwi, Eastern DRC)

By Congo Peace Academy

At this critical moment, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is facing an active Ebola outbreak in Ituri alongside other recurring public health emergencies. These outbreaks are not only medical crises, but they are also community crises, driven and amplified by gaps in awareness, delayed reporting, misinformation, and fragile trust between health systems and local populations. 

The Health for Peace Program of Congo Peace Academy is responding through an urgent, field-based Ebola prevention and risk communication campaign, already coordinated with teams operating in affected and high-risk communities. This is not a distant response. It is an active, on-the-ground intervention focused on saving lives through prevention, trust-building, and rapid community education.

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

Ebola spreads fastest where:

• Information is delayed or misunderstood

• Communities lack trusted messengers

• Fear prevents early reporting

• Health systems are distant or overwhelmed

In eastern DRC, these conditions are present in many vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities, especially among displaced populations, women, and children. Without immediate prevention action at the community level, transmission accelerates before formal response systems can contain it.

OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE APPROACH

The Health for Peace Program is deploying community-based rapid response teams to:

1. Deliver Life-Saving Ebola Education

• Clear, simple, and localized information on transmission and prevention

• Early symptom recognition and immediate reporting pathways

• Safe caregiving practices at the household level

• Correct information to counter fear and misinformation

2. Strengthen Community Trust in Health Systems

• Engagement with local leaders, youth groups, and women's networks

• Dialogue-based sensitization rather than top-down messaging

• Trusted local facilitators embedded in affected areas

• Rebuilding confidence in early referral and treatment systems

3. Support Early Detection Behaviors

• Encouraging immediate reporting of symptoms

• Promoting safe care-seeking practices

• Strengthening community-level vigilance and referral awareness

4. Reinforce Infection Prevention Practices

• Hand hygiene and safe contact practices

• Safe burial awareness and risk reduction behaviors

• Protection of caregivers and households

FIELD PRESENCE AND LOCAL COORDINATION

CPA teams are already active in or near affected zones, working through:

• Community health education networks

• Local leaders and grassroots structures

• Youth and women mobilization groups

• IDP and high-vulnerability community entry points

This ensures that messages are not only delivered, but understood, trusted, and acted upon.

WHY THIS APPROACH WORKS

Unlike centralized campaigns, this model prioritizes:

• Speed (rapid deployment of local teams)

• Trust (community-based messengers)

• Cultural relevance (locally adapted communication)

• Behavior change focus (not just awareness, but action)

In outbreak settings like Ebola, trust is as critical as medicine. Without it, response efforts fail to reach those most at risk.

URGENT FUNDING NEED

This campaign requires immediate support to scale:

• Deployment of additional community facilitators in high-risk zones

• Training and equipping of rapid response education teams

• Production of localized awareness materials (radio, print, community tools)

• Support for safe field operations in affected communities

• Strengthening of community reporting and referral pathways

Every delay increases risk. Every trained community messenger increases protection.

EXPECTED IMPACT

With rapid support, this campaign will:

• Reduce Ebola transmission risk at the community level

• Improve early reporting and response behavior

• Strengthen trust between communities and health systems

• Counter misinformation and harmful practices

• Protect vulnerable groups, especially women, children, and displaced populations

OUR PRINCIPLE

Health security is not achieved only in hospitals. It is secured in homes, villages, schools, and communities through trusted information, early action, and collective responsibility.

CALL TO ACTION

This is a moment for urgent, coordinated prevention. We invite partners, donors, and supporters to join Congo Peace Academy in scaling this community-led Ebola prevention and trust-building response. Together, we can slow transmission, save lives, and strengthen the resilience of communities on the frontlines of this outbreak. Health for Peace is not only responding to Ebola, but it is also preventing the next life lost.